Suspenders



W. H. STEVENS.

SUSPENDERS. APPLICATION'FI'LED SEPT-26, 191s.

1,361,,1 13, v Patented Dec. 7,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- I WITNESS BY M v. '7 A4 EY8 W. H. STEVENS.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

WITNESS ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT orrice.

WILLIAM H. STEVENS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUSPENDERS.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. STEVENS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented to provide a construction of suspenders in which the back strap, which is to be secured to two buttons at the back of the waistband of the trousers, as usual, is a single length of preferably elastic fabric threaded through a connecting member of such construction and in such manner that the fabric is held substantially immovable in the connecting member under ordinary conditions of use, though it may be readily adjusted therein when desired; and to provide further for making the shoulder strap part of the suspenders of a single piece of fabric threaded through the same connecting member in. such manner that it will be slidable therein. to allow for various bending movements of the wearer in use.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more orless broad than those stated above, together with the advantages inherent, will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the course ofthe following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts, and applications of principles constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will appear from the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification, and in which I have shown a merely preferred form of embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is an elevation of a pair of suspenders embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an-enlarged View in elevation illustrating the connecting member, with the back strap and shoulder strap parts threaded through it, looking at one side of the connecting member; Fig. 3 is a similar view looking at the other side of the connecting member; Fig. i is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another form of connecting member, looking at one side of the article; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 looking at the other side of the article; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, '7, 1920, Application filed September 26,1918. seri l No. 255,784

s s f Fig. 6; Fig. 9a a plan View or the formof connecting member shown in Figs. 6, 7 8; and Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig.

9 and illustrating the form of connecting as for instance metal or celluloid,provided at the top with .two parallel slots 15 and 16, defining a cross-bar 17 between them, while 18 indicates a cross-bar which constitutes the upper end of the frame, defined on one side by the upper slot 15. Below the slots 15. and 16 I provide in the frame a pair of slots 19 and 20, which diverge from the bottom of the frame toward the top. The back strap is threaded through this frame 'as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Referring to Fig. 2, in which the parts are shown as they will appear when on the person,the back strap 11. is threaded through the slot 19 from the inner face of the connecting member, thence over the outer face of the connecting member, thence through the upper slot 15 from the outer face of the connecting member, thence over the inner. face of the cross-bar 17 of the connecting member, thence from the inner face of the. connecting member through the slot 16 to the outer face of the connecting member, and thence over the outer face of the connecting member but under the course 21 of the fabric and from the outerfface of the connecting member through the second diverging slot 20 to the inner face of the. connecting member. The

result of this threading of the fabric, be-

it will not be readily slidable therein. The

preferably a singleilength of non-elastic fabric, which slides readily back and forth through the slot 15 in accordance with the carrying movements of the shoulders of the wearer. This shoulder strap portion is provided with the usual adjusting buckles 24 in which'the ends 25 of the-strap may be adjusted for length,and in the loops of the strap ends formed between the adjusting buckles 24 and the ends of the strap 22 are secured the usual fitments 26 through which the connecting may be threadedthe doub1e-ended straps 27 for attachment for buttons at the front of the trousers, all-as shown in Fig.1. The result of this construction is that the back strap provides the necessary stretch and give to the article though the back strap is itself immovably held in the connecting member; while the shoulder strap portion is readily slidable through the connecting member, allowing for movements of the shoulders of the wearer. I

The form of device shown in Fi 6, 7, 8, and 9 is similar to that already d escribed, except that instead of having two slots 19 and20 there is provided at the bottom of theframea single slot 28. In this form of device the back strap, which is a single length of material, as before, is threaded through the lower wide slot 28 from the inner face of the connecting member 29 (re ferring to Fig. 6), thence over the outer face of the connecting member through the upper wide slot 15 to, the'inner face of the connecting member, thence over the inner face of thecross-ba'r 17 through thesec- 0nd slot 16 to the outer face of the com necting member but under the course 30 of the strap, and thence through the bottom wide slot 28 to the inner face of I member. Theresult of this bending oft e strap through the various slots and the superposition of the course 30 over the course 31 is to hold the strap firmly in the connecting member, the slots being wide enough to permit of a general diverging of the strap from the portion which isinthe upper slot 15 towardits ends. As in the other form of the device, the shoulderstrap portion 22 is threaded through the up er wide slot 15 ind is slidable therein;

nasmuch as many changes could bemade in the above construction, and many appar- 1 ently widely different embodiments of my invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also. to be understood that the language used in thejfollowing' claims'isjn tended to cover all the generic and specific features of theinvention herein described and all statements of the scope of the inven tion, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim g 1. Suspenders including a connecting membercomprisinga flat frame with three slots formed therein, a back strap threaded through all of said slots and through one of,

them twice, and a shoulder strap portion threaded through one of the slots.

2. A connecting member comprising a frame having three parallel slots and a back strap comprising a single length of'material threaded through the lower one of the slots from one side of the connecting member over the other side of the connecting member through the uppermost one of the slots, to the other side of the connecting member, through the intermediate one ofthe slots and thence through the lowermost one of the slots, and a shoulder strap portionthreaded through the uppermost one of the slots.

3. Suspenders including a connecting member comprising a frame having a plus rality of slots formed therein, a back strap threaded through all of said slots and a shoulder strap portion threaded through one of the slots. p y i 4. Suspenders including a connecting member comprising a frame having a plurality of slots formed therein, a back strap threaded through all of'the slots withthe end portions of said strap divergingin opposite directions from the lower end of the orame,and a shoulder strap portion threaded through the uppermost slot.

In testimony-whereof I an; signature.

WILLIAM STEVENS.

. Ii-kin 

